Panel-board.



H F, KRANTZ.

PANEL BOARD.

APPLICATION mm mmzs. I913- 1 ,27 3,623 Patented July 23, 1918..

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

2% zd zfwases F. KRANTZ.

PANEL BOARD.

APPLICATION FILED lAf-L23. l9i3.

2 SHEETS-SHEET z.

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mad/y affarnqy.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

nonnnr r. mmz, or nnooxtrn, new YORK, assronon. TO KRANTZ MANUFAC- runmo courm, Inc, or BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION or NEW YORK.

PANEL-BOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 23, 1918.

Application filed January 23, 1813. Serial No. 743,698.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUBERT F. KaAN'rz, a citizen of the United. States, residlng at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings, city and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Panel- Boards, of which the following is a clear,

11, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improvement in panel boards, but more particularly to the arrangement and construction of the switches thereof.

The chief object of this invention is to rovide a simple but effective panel board y which means a plurality of branch circuits can be controlled. The switches which control these branch circuits form the principal feature of the improvement. The switches referred to are designed and arranged to contact directly with the busbars and the circuit contacts, thereby eliminatmg the branch circuit bars usually employed whereby a considerable amount of first cost is saved and a less amount of current carrying metal is exposed.

In the drawings which form part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a plan view of a panel board embodying my improvement.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged end View thereof, partly in section.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of switch, showing fuses carried by the switch.

Fig. 4 is an end view thereof.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view of a three pole switch, made in accordance with my improvement.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional new of another'form of switch in which fuses constitute the current carrying elements.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view thereof, the section being taken on a line 7-7 of Fig. 6.

As herein embodied my improved panel board comprises a back plate 1 carrying busbars 2, 3 and 4 and switches 5 for branch circuits 6, the two lines of which are designated by 6 and 7 Fig. 1.

Instead of providing the usual branch circuit bars, which are secured to the busbars, or rather in circuit therewith, I prefer to place the branch circuit contacts 6 and 7 a as shown in Fig. 2 adjacent the bus-bars, that is to say, comparatively close to them, and closing the gap, between the branch circuit contact and the adjacent bus-bar direct, thereby close the circuit for the branch circult.

To close the circuit above referred to I provide the switches 5, which consist of a support or frame 8 rotatably mounted u on a bar 9 supported at the ends thereof m brackets 10 (see Fig. 2).

The frames 8 carry arms 11, in the ends of which are mounted contacts 12, and which are insulated thereupon. The frames 8 can be swung upon the supports, independently of each other, and as each frame is preferably insulated from its adjacent frame, each one of the branch circuits 6 can be opened or closed independently of the other branch circuits.

As can be seen in Fig. 2, the contacts 12 are positioned between the bus-bars and branch circuit contacts by swinging the frames downwardly, When the frames are swung upwardly the circuit will be broken.

By means of the above described switches I am able to do away with considerable amount of current carrying elements such for instance as the branch circuit bars and knife switches with their pivotal connec tions. A panel board constructed as above described is considerably cheaper, as to first cost and up-keep than the panel board as usually constructed. The branch circuit lines 6 and 7 are provided with clips to hold the fuses 14.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a form of switch comprising a frame or-carrier 15 pivotally mounted upon a bar 16 carried by brackets 17, one only being shown. The circuit closing elements in this form of switch consist of blades 18, which contact directly with the bus-bars 19 and branch circuit contacts 20. In this form of switch the blades 18 are pro vided with clips 21 adapted to retain fuses 22. When using this form of switch I do away with the fuses, such as 14, Fi 1, located in the branch circuit lines, an mount the fuses directly between the switch blades and preferably on the switch frames or carriers. This form of switch enables one to use a much smaller back-plate, besides rendering the fuses very accessible.

The rotatable carriage in this case has three depending arms carrying their insulated contacts which, when the whole carriage is rotated into place in order to close the circuit, contact with the bus-bars, and

consist of fuses carried by metallic supports 26 located in the switch frame 23. As

be seen in Fig fuses contact directly with the bus-bars 27 and branch circuit contacts 28. The fuses can be positioned in the supports therefor or removed therefrom through the openings 29.

I claim as m invention:

1. A paneloard combining a baseboard; a narrow elongated bus-bar arranged edgewise to the plane of said baseboard; a branch-line conductor arranged on the same side of said base-board and providing a terminal extending edgewise to said base-board; a hand-operated member pivoted to swing about an axis extending transversely to said bus-bar; and vmeans carried by said member adapted to be interposed between said bus-bar'and said terminal to establish electrical connection therebetween.

2. A panel-board combining a base-board; a first switch-mcmber pivoted to swing about an axis extending parallel with said base-board; a second switch-member pivoted to swing about an axis parallel with said first-mentioned axis; ab'us-bar extending between said base-board and said two axes; a first and a second branch-line conductor terminating adjacent said bus-bar;

and means carried by said members adapted to establish electrical connection between 1 the respective terminals and said bus-bar.

3. A. panel-board combining a baseboard; two parallel bus-bars extending adjacent one face thereof; a branch-line conductor extending transversely to said busbars and having a terminal located between said two bus-bars; a switch-member pivoted about an axis located at one side of said bus-bars so as to extend transversely to the same; and conducting means carried by said member adapted to be interposed between one of said bus-bars and said terminal to establish electrical communlcation therebetween.

d. A panel-board combining a baseboard; a first switch-member pivoted to swing about an axis extending parallel with said base-board; a second switclrmember pivoted to swing co-axially with said first mentioned switch-member; two bus-bars extending between said base-board and said far enough apart 6 the supports for the- 5. A. panel-board combining a baseboard; a first switch-member pivoted. to

swing about an axis extending parallel with said base-board; a second switch-member pivoted to swing co-axially with said first mentioned switch-member; bus-bars extending parallel between said base board and the axis of said switch-members; a plurality branch-line conductor terminating in alinement each adjacent its respective bus-bar; and means carried by said members adapted to establish electrical connection between the respective terminals and bus-bars 6. In a. panel board, a back plate, bus-bars carried thereby, branch circuit contacts also carried by said back plate, a support carried by said back plate and located transversely of said bus-bars, a frame rotatable about an axis parallel with said back-plate and supported by said support, adapted for movement in parallelism with said bus-bars; and circuit closing elements carried by said frames adapted to close the gap between said bus-bars and said branch circuit contacts.

7. A device of the class described comprising a-base board, abus-bar, a branch-line contact adjacent to the bus-bar but spaced an insulating distance therefrom, a movable conductor member for electrically connecting said bus-bar and branch-line contact at will, said conductor member being movable in a path transverse to a straight line extending in the general direction between said bllS-lOM' and said branch-line contact and being adapted when in one position to fit between and engage opposing surface portions of the bus-bar and the branch-line contact, and means for so moving the conductor member.

8. A device of the class described comprising a base board, a bus-bar, a branchline contact adjacent to the bus-bar but spaced an insulating distance therefrom, a pivotally mounted conductor member adapted to swing into andout of position electrically connecting the bus-bar and branchline contact at will, and supporting means for the conductor member whereby the pivotal axis thereof is made to extend substantially parallel to a straight line between the bus-bar and the branch-line contact.

9. A device of the class described comprising a base board, a bus-bar extending along one side of the base board, said bus-bar having a longitudinally extending contact surface disposed in a plane substantially at right angles to the face of the base board, a plurality of branch-line terminals spaced apart along the length of the bus-bar being insulated therefrom and each having a contact surface portion standing in opposed relation to the mentioned contact surface portion of the bus-bar but being spaced an insulating distance from said surface of the bus-bar, a plurality of connecting members, 7 one for each branch-line terminal, for electrically connecting the busbar with said branch-line terminals, and operating bers of a character to move the connecting means for said connecting me'mmembers bodily into and out of position bridging the space between the opposing surfaces of the busbar and respective l5 branch-line terminals.

Signed at Brooklyn, New York, this 17th day of January, one thousand nine hundred and thirteen.

l/Vitnesses i S. L. Wm'rLooK, J. A. NEWTON; 

